FRIDAY. MAY 4. 1962
gnmsHßaaamn Behind the News totaimßßatn
The
Political Aftermath of Algeria ]
g I
g Alter: nearly eight yean of
B armed conflict, and frightful
expenditure of life, money and
jjj heated jpolitical argument,
| France is jin the process: of
s liquidating her Algerian prob
g lem.
S' „
g It had been this issue which,
H in 1958, caught the Fourth Re- ;
= public so l",embarrassingly in
g capable of averting and then
g suppressing the European set--
| tier—military insurrection
| which .very nearly - embroiled
} France inj civil war. It was in
i this context that a confused and
frightened! National Assembly
turned to the commanding
_ sonality of Charles de Gaulle
H for national'leadership.
I ' |
s Now, four years later, a 3
j= President land policy director of
E the new Fifth Republican sys
g tem which was tailored to his
S requirements, de Gaulle has
H settled, the crisis which had
s lifted him to power.
THE- TASK AHEAD
«g i i
ig But de: Gaulle u not satis
£ fied to rest on this laurel. He
g has always held a grand and
g almost mystical vision for
= France—prosperous, politically
= united in imposing patriotism
, = and internationally proud and
g influential.
£ . i
s He believes that this kind of
|j French grandeur wasiirrespon-
H sibly retarded by ,the narrow,
g selfish and divisive politics of
g the. Third and Fourth Repub
g licsj where personal ambition,
g party haggling and sustained
g paralysis- of constructive
£ leadership by a ; faction-ridden
g legislature—the playing of poli
£ tical “games” as he has dubbed
§j it—brought only grief to
£ France.
SB '
g Algeria's solution now per
mits France to focus attention
on fier mission of national re
suscitation. But, according to
de Gaulle, this task can succeed
only if, as has been‘true since
the advent!of the Fifth Repub
lic, parliament and tl\e political
parties are deprived of effec
tive leverage, the Prime. Minis
ter and his cabinet, direct the
administration, of affairs and
the massive symbol of Presi
dent de Gaulle lays down the
£
c z
= sweep of policy, and builds a
3 fresh public consensus around
B bis person and objectives.
A LOOK FORWARD
I '• i
£ Exactly how far such a con-
H ception of post-Algeria French
§ politics can be carried; cannot
H be predicted, but there Me visi
= ble trends which are bpund to
= intrude in the near future.
(•Today France enjbys pros
perity and lull employment
H *The Fifth‘Republic has al
= ready been able to forestall
E steep inflation by imposing
i= selected -austerity me?-ures,
£
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across from Post/ Off let
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By DR. HENRY S. AIBINSKI
Assistant Professor of Political- Science ;
which, incidentally, would have
been politically suicidal under
the previous regime.
• The franc has been stabi
lized, international obligations
are being repaid and, in 1961,
for the first time since 1927,
the opuntry had a favorable
balance of payments in her
overseas trade.
•Membership in the Euro
pean Common Market is fur
ther stimulating a moderniza
tion of production and enlarg
ing the range. of consumer
products.
FRENCH PROBLEMS
But certain sectors of the
French population have been
alienated by the government’s
program and doubly frustrated
in finding iio political channels
through which to retaliate.
The habitually pampered
small’ and inefficient farmers
have had their subsidies re
duced. Their violent demon
strations, which resulted in the
destruction of public property,
were met by police interven
tion and a scolding. The poli
tically enervated 'National As
sembly-could bring no pressure
on’the government and at one
point most of its members
walked but in piqued protest.
Wages in private Industry
have been rising rapidly, but
..the government ■ has permitted
only slight increases for under
paid civil servants and workers
in , nationalized enterprises,
fearing inflationary tendencies.
Those parties in the National'
Assembly which would ordi
narily pressxfor "a redress, the
Communists and Socialists, won
35 per cent of the vote in the
1958 elections, but the prevail
ing electoral law awarded them
only 10 per cent of the seats
and prevented any sizeable
parliamentary revolt '"*•>
Instead, all' major,
trade unions—Communist, So
cialist aryl Catholic alike—,
have been resorting to work
stoppages, even in the face of
a government threat to con
icript strikers.
So far the -Parliament has
not succeeded in blocking any
major government programs or
overturning a Fifth Republican
ministry. Its main and most
subservient party, the Union
for the New Republic, has no
intelligible outlook save to sup
port de Gaulle—who, incident
ally, has nearly as much con
tempt for it as he does for the
traditional parties.
PE GAULLE’S WEAPONS
Within the President’s ar
mory are many weapons which
can be turned against a refrac
tory Parliament speedy dis
solution,: invocation of decree
powers by the President and
circumvention of Parliamen
tary legislation by direct ap
peals to the electorate. The
PENN STATE RIDING CLUB
HORSE SHOW
Lions Park RL 322
2 mi. North of Slate College
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. UNIVERSITY PARK, PENNSYLVANIA
Prime Minister Is invested by S[
the President, not the National 1]
Assembly, and all ministers 1!
must surrender their seats in si
Parliament once appointed to §
office. 1
Indeed, the,new Prime Minis- Si
ter, Georges.Pompidou, has had fji
absolutely no Parliamentary 1;
experience; his only claim to =§l
the office is‘that he is a loyal 5|
Gaullist. ' _j ' 5'
PARLIAMENTARY TRENDS |
The upshot of these trends is §j
that Parliament is inherently S
weak and there is a growing s
detachment between ministers S
and parliamentarians, height- jj
ening the helplessness of the 3
latter. ’ S
Even in its weakened con- 3
dition, Parliament was not will- 3
ing to chance a full-dress show- 1
down with the government 3
while the Algerian situation 3
was so delicate, so fraught with ||
dangers, so very much reliant §
on de ; Gaulle’s stature for its 3
resolution. =
Nevertheless, Algeria as a =
French preoccupation is about 3
to be shut down. Grievances =
continue on other fronts the g
farm agitation, industrial 3
wages, aid to church schools,' 3
deGaulle’s unnecessarily chau- §j
vinistic handling of foreign and |j
defense questions. 3
As de GauUe works to build |=;
an' invigorated and united §|
France, the critics of his gov- 3 :
ernment’s policies are increas- fj
ingly restiye, living as they do a
under the lid of executive 3]
authority. Ideological fractures ||j
in a historically divided public |j|
probably cannot be overcome g:
in a few short years. p
- De Gaulle remains personally a
popular, but his “system" ex- S
asperates a large sector of the 3
community which v is almost =1
pathologically distrustful of ex- g
ecutive leadership at the ex- §
pense of the “sovereign” public s
and its spectrum-covering Par- §
iiamentary representatives. gj
\ * |j
At last France has a political l 1
system and leadership which =;
are strong, stable and unafraid, s.
Yet France is really many §;
Frances, c frequently at. odds ~
with one another and tempera- 3
mentally unprepared to dance p
around a tri-colored Maypole =
in happy unison and under the 2
watchful eye of a patronizing §j|
ring master. 3
It has been said of France M
that, "Within her boundaries, 3
1 the world’j contradictions
meet." With the end of the Al- 3
gerian agony, perhaps even the 5
majestic de Gaulle cannot re-1
solve them.
MAY 5 & 6
10:00 A.M. Saturday
12:30 P.M« Sunday
Lunch by Lions Club
RESTIVE FORCES i
TODAY ON CAMPUS
No Parking In Area 50
No-, parking will be permitted in
area 50 today because the area
will be resurfaced.
Candy Sale
• Delta Phi Epsilon sorority will]
continue its candy sale from 9:
a.m. to 5 pim. in the Hetzel Union 1
jgameroom.
Senior Ball
The Senibr Ball, featuring Larry
Elgart and his orchestra, will be
I held from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. in the
HUB ballroom. Tickets are avail-'
I able at the HUB desk.
i ■
Center Stage
The Center Stage production of
Shaw’s “The Man of Destiny” and 1
Society to Celebrate 50th Year
The Penn State chapter of Tat
! Beta Pi, national engineering
j honorary, will celebrate its 50th
; anniversary tomorrow.
I , The celebration will open with
] tours of the campus and Hammond
I and Sackett buildings tomorrow
! morning for {he returning alumni.
] At 1 p.m.. [The Bent, key of Tau
j Beta Pi which was recently erect-
I ed in front of Hammond, will be
['dedicated and presented to the
! University.]
An initiation ceremony will be
j held at 4:3p p.m. for Lawrence J.
i Perez, assistant dean of the Col
i lege of Engineering and Architec
• ture; Dr. (Arthur H. Waynick,
! head of the Department of Elec
Approved Fraternities
All social fraternities are ap
proved for social activities tonight
and tomorrow night except Alpha
Phi Alpha and Zeta Psi which are
approved for tomorrow night,
only.
drew casual ; 9 to 1:30
Get
Lit j,
With The
lamps
fri. may 4 que house
CAMPANIS SHOE STORE
3-DAY
SPECIAL SALE
FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY
3 GROUPS OF
GIRL’S LOAFERS
20% OFF
1 GROUP OF
GIRL’S FLATS
IWECIAI
ALL SHOES IN STOCK
10% OFF DURING SALE \,
ACROSS FROM ATHERTON \
[Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape*
[will take place at 8 p,m.
Dr. Norman Spector of the Uni
versity of Chicago will speak at
the NDEA French-Institute lec-;
jture at 7:30 p.m. at the Home'
(Economics living center. 5 Dr.
,Spector will lecture in English'
on "Aspects of Moliere's Comedy:;
LTEtourdi, and L'E cole de*
Femmes."
Meetings
Campus Tournament, 7 p.m., HUB
i gameroom and main loungo ~
Football Clinic Lunch, 12-3 p.m..
HUB ballroom
Office of Student Aid, 8 a.m.-5
p.m., 218 HUB ’
Reed Ferguson Tour, 1:30 p.m.,
1 217. HUB •
’.rical Engineering; Maurice S,
Gjcsdahl, head of the Department
of Mechanical Engineering; and
35 undergraduate engineering stu
ients.
The celebration will conclude
with a banquet at the, Nittany
Lion Inn. for the nlujnni, new
initiates and members. The prin
cipal speukcr will -be President
Eric A. Walker.
Nittany Dell
home of delieiotu sandwiches
Lox and Bigals
Served Sunday Till 2 P.M.
■cross from girls dorms
362 East College Ave.
Free Puking In Rear
AND REPAIR
$4.99\
: 3 GROUPS OF
CHILDREN’S SHOES
20% OFF
PAGE FIVE
Lectures
■J*